Unit 2 Text A

Reading comprehension Critical thinking

1. Gain more insight into life and society; better understand and predict human behavior; realize different interpretations of life and history; understand the past which has created the present; be aware of cultural and religious differences

2. help read and write better; broaden their horizons; become more well-rounded; become a better communicator; develop critical thinking skills; have more flexibility for the future career. 3. personal interest; special talents; future job prospects; financial status; family advice; social environment

4. better job opportunities; more practical skills; highly-paid jobs

5. yes, it invests students with great insight; yes, it helps students to be better-rounded; yes, it provides students with flexibility to change their career; no, it doesn’t satisfy students’ needs for their future career; no, colleges are experiencing deep budget cuts and need to prioritize their financial resources; no, the society needs more skills, not literature.

Language focus Words in use 3.

1. promote; 2. Accelerate; 3. Mystery; 4.insight; 5. Boost; 6. Analysis; 7.caculate; 8.barriers; 9.destruction; 10.prospect Word building 4.

Promise-----promising; bear-----bearing; house-----housing; object-----objective; offensive-----offend; exclusive-----exclude; excessive----excess; executive----execute; intense----intensify; identify----identity 5

1.excess; 2.bearing; 3.objective; 4.intensify; 5.execute; 6.promising; 7.exclude; 8.identity; 9.offend; 10.housing Banked cloze 6

1.c;2.h;3.d;4.j; 5.b; 6.l; 7.m; 8.g; 9.f; 10.a Expressions in use 7

1. are liable to; 2.in favor of; 3. Is bound to; 4.speculate about; 5. Invested…with; 6. Stand up for; 7.in the form of; 8. Prepared for; 9. In the company of; 10. In succession

Structure analysis and writing Structured writing 8

Did you have such an experience as when your high-school physical education teacher pushed you to run for several miles around the sports field in a P.E. class? When you were sweating and out of breath, did you ever wish that you could only stop taking a P.E. class in college? However,

taking P.E. courses can be advantageous to all college students.

First, taking P.E. classes helps students learn valuable communication and teamwork skills. There are many activities that require students to communicate and interact with each other when they are having a P.E. class. For example, when one group competes with the other in playing basketball, group cooperation is extremely important in order to win. Effective teamwork usually requires good communication skills.

Another advantage is that taking P.E. classes enable students to more effectively handle their heavy coursework. Not infrequently, students sleep and no exercise. Through taking P.E. courses, students build up their health. Only when students stay healthy can they learn better.

To sum up, taking a P.E. course at college can benefit students in developing useful social skills as well as better coping skills for their stress at school. Therefore, P.E. course bring students advantages both physically and academically.

Translation 9

慕课是一种网络课程，目的是通过网络，实现广泛参与和开放接入。慕课是远程教育的新产物，在高等教育界风行一时。这些课程旨在扩大大学的影响范围，突破受众仅限于居住在城里的缴费学生的桎梏，从而惠及全球数百万学生。慕课不仅可以提供传统的课程材料，还可以提供用户互动论坛，为师生交流提供支持。慕课能够促进参与者之间的交流，将多种多样的观点、知识和技能引入课程。慕课激励人们尝试以前不敢尝试的课程，甚至可以激励那些人们去尝试接受教育。慕课提供多种课程资料学习方式，鼓励多模式学习。多模式学习可以提供多种学习方式，从而满足学习者的多样化需求。慕课更可以激励人们改善面授课程教学，使技术在面授课程中得到更好地应用。

Thanks to recent developments in Internet technology, great achievements have been made in establishing reservoirs of digital education resources. Many universities have set up their own digital learning platforms, which enables digital teaching to play an increasingly important role in education. The digital way of teaching, in comparison to its traditional counterpart, has a lot of advantages. It turns global sharing of teaching resources into a reality. It also expands learners’ study time and space to learn, allowing them to get access to the digital virtual schools through the Internet anytime anywhere. These advantages make it possible for people to shift from one-time learning to lifelong learning.

Text B

Understanding the text 2

1.C; 2. D. 3. C; 4. A; 5. D; 6. B; 7. B; 8. A Critical thinking

1.It’s very true because the job market is becoming more competitive. Yes, without a college degree, one can end up with nothing to do. Sure, college brings students knowledge and personal growth.

No, it’s not necessary to get a college degree to have a better career. Disagree, college is too expensive now for students and family to afford.

2. more competitive; more knowledgeable; more confident more opportunities;

3. traditional ideology; more promising future; high expectations of their children 4. worth their money because it’s an investment that will pay off later. A waste of their money because the tuition is too high Not sure if they’ll profit from the large sum they invested 5. analytical ability; critical thinking skills; broad knowledge

Language focus Words in use 4

1.enroll;2.revise;3.accumulate;4.accoreded;5.evaluate;6.prime;7.confirm;8.shrinking;9.sufficient;10.recruit

Expressions in use 5

1.bother to; 2.is available to; 3.been compelled to; 4. Described…as; 5.exposed…to; 6.rather than; 7. Have sth to do with; 8. For its own sake Sentence structure 6

1. A teacher, no matter how knowledgeable he is, cannot teach his students everything they want to know.

2. no matter where you travel, you can always find someone to communicate with in English since English is an important language.

3. No matter what work a person is doing, if he give it his best each day, he creates lots of happiness for himself. 7

1. Although the number of applicants is small, there is little doubt that the program will help the students who really need financial aid.

2. There is no doubt that computer crime is a very serious problem, so people think that all hackers need to be punished for their actions.

3. Though the boy worked very hard and finally successfully passed the exam, there is no doubt that overwork and too much worry caused his illness. Collocation Warm-up

1. sufficient/promising jobs; 2. well-rounded human beings; 3. develop identity; 4. shrinking job market; 5. dominant pillars; 6. reform system; 7.specialized fields; 8. general consensus 8

1. promising; 2. worsens; 3.shrinking; 4.domimant; 5.land; 6.great; 7.well-rounded; 8.creative; 9. Elegant; 10.constructive; 11.skills; 12. Make